Kirby Smart describes what Syracuse is getting in Fran Brown

The branches of the Kirby Smart coaching tree expanded further following the season with former Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown recently being named Syracuse‘s new head football coach.

Brown has spent the past two seasons in Athens with the Bulldogs, becoming a valuable piece in maintaining their elite standard on the defensive side of the ball specifically in the secondary. With Smart revealing during the Orange Bowl selection day press conference that he won’t be the only one that’s gonna miss Brown following his departure.

“He’s an incredible person and human being, beautiful family,” Smart said. “Nobody’s more upset than my 11-year-old son who one of his best friends was Brayden, Fran’s son. When they first came down they got to be buddies and now they’ve spent really a year or two years together.”

Brown landing the Syracuse job not only signifies the first head coaching job of his career, but serves as a homecoming of sorts for the Camden, New Jersey native.

His coaching beginnings started at Paul VI High School in New Jersey before landing his first collegiate job as a graduate assistant at Temple, working his way up to defensive backs coach and associate head coach with the Owls. He also made stops at Baylor and Rutgers before joining Georgia’s staff in 2022, but Brown is bringing a lot more with him than experience according to Smart.

“And Fran’s just an incredible person, I think anybody that met Fran knows he impacts people and he has great relationship strengths,” Smart said. “He’ll be awesome for Syracuse, they’re getting a great recruiter, a great leader, and he’s gonna do a great job. He knows everybody in the Northeast, so better watch out up there, because he knows everybody in Philly.”

From his championship experience, expertise in recruiting, familiarity with the area, and his traits as a person it sounds like Brown was a slam-dunk hire for the Orange who’ve been led by Dino Barbers for the past eight seasons.

But now a new era begins in Syracuse, as Brown will be looking to bring the same championship pedigree and success he attained at Georgia to Syracuse.

“I am incredibly proud to be leading Syracuse Football at a university with a rich and storied tradition of academic and athletic excellence,” Brown said in a statement. “Syracuse Football has outstanding talent, great facilities and passionate alumni. The success of the players is my No. 1 priority—on and off the field. I want my guys to succeed in life, because they played football at Syracuse. My immediate area of focus is building relationships with my current players and putting together an elite staff, while also having fun on the recruiting trail. I’m ready to get to work and look forward to building something special for our fans.”